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BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSJ 

ro. 43 


l 


I--1 ED BEJU-MI 

1 






THE CONSOLIDATION 



RURAL SCHOOLS 



\\ ITU AND W I I UOUT 



TRANSPORTATION 



i. T. Baskktt 







K 



PUBl 



THE UNIVERSITY OF l 






384-804- 2m. 

BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

No. 43 

ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY 

General Series No. 7 October 1, 1904 



THE CONSOLIDATION 

OP 

RURAL SCHOOLS 



WITH AND WITHOUT 



TRANSPORTATION 



BY 

Una Bedichek and George T. Baskett 

Under the Direction of A. Caswell Ellis, Associate Professor of the Science and Art 
of Education, The University of Texas. 




published by 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

Entered as second-class mail matter at the postofflce at Austin, Texas 



Uto* 



Gift* 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS, WITH 
AND WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION. 

BT 

Una Bedichek and George T. Baskett. 

Under the Direction of A. Caswell Ellis, Associate Professor of the Science and Art 
of Education, The University of Texas. 



By the Consolidation of Rural Schools is meant the discontinuance 
of several small one-teacher schools within a given district or neighbor- 
hood, and the maintainance instead of one larger school, with several 
teachers, at some point near the centre of this area. When this central 
school takes the place of a large number of small schools, or when the 
area ministered to by this one school is very large, the pupils from those 
parts of the district far removed from the school house are transported 
to and from school in wagonettes at the public expense. The wagon- 
ette hire and drivers' salaries are paid out of school funds just as are 
teachers' salaries or fuel bills. Experience has shown that this expense 
can usually be met without any increase in appropriation, out of the 
amount saved through the greater economy in running one large central 
school instead of four, five or six scattered little schools. When only 
two or three schools are consolidated and when none of the pupils are 
placed thereby at great distance from the central school, free trans- 
portation need not be provided. 

This plan of transporting pupils at public expense from outlying dis- 
tricts was first authorized in Massachusetts in 1869, where they found 
that it was cheaper to transport the pupils in the country to the well 
established village schools than to support even a poor grade of separate 
country school. In other States the rural districts which have no cen- 
tral village soon adopted the plan of consolidating their own little scat- 
tered rural schools, sometimes with, sometimes without transportation. 
Among the states now practising consolidation are Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Nebras- 
ka, and North Dakota. It is practised also in Victoria, Australia, with 
great advantage. In all these states it has proved successful and is 
rapidly spreading. 

REASONS FOR CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS. 

The majority of our rural schools are taught by young, inexperienced*, 
and often poorly educated,! and inefficient teachers, working in little 

*The average length of service of rural teachers in Texas is less than 4 years of iy t months 
each, or a total of 18 months. About 3000 new teachers are taken into our schools each year. 

tOf the 10,244 white teachers in rural schools in Texas 5737 have second grade and 506 have 
third grade certificates. Even a first grade certificate demands a bare high school education. 



one-room school houses with practically no library, maps, charts, or 
other school equipment. These teachers must conduct from twenty-five 
to thirty-five recitations a day in all subjects, ranging from A, B, C's 
to Algebra. As a result, qur rural schools, with a few notable excep- 
tions, are truly wretched. Furthermore, with the present poor pay, and 
with the impossible task imposed upon the rural teacher, we can hope 
for little improvement in the quality or training of those undertaking 
this hopeless labor. Even if we could have every rural teacher better 
than the few best ones now are, the well-nigh complete absence of equip- 
ment and the endless round of lessons each day necessitated by having 
all grades of pupils under one instructor would paralyze the best teacher. 
If any plan can be found which will even partially obviate these difficul- 
ties without entailing an expense beyond what the present schools cost, or 
beyond what our people are willing to contribute for improved schools, 
it should have our most earnest consideration. 

ADVANTAGES OF CONSOLIDATION. 

The experience with consolidation elsewhere has shown that it does 
accomplish the following results : 

1. Better school buildings and equipment can be secured. It is 
cheaper to build and keep up one four or six-room house than four or 
six one-room houses. Experience has shown, too, that the community 
pride in a large, successful school will bring better financial support. 

2. The expense for teachers is less. The most extravagant plan pos- 
sible is to have one teacher teaching children of all ages, often hearing 
fifteen or twenty small classes a day with only one, two or three pupils 
in each class. Several times this many pupils could be taught in each 
class just as well as not. There would be few more classes in a consoli- 
dated school of a hundred and fifty pupils than there are in a one room 
school of twenty-five pupils. By combining six such schools the work 
could easily be much better done by four teachers, and still give three 
times as much time to each class, thus saving the cost of two teachers 
and giving better service at the same time. Even where the single 
teacher schools are crowded with sixty or eighty pupils, as many are in 
Texas, consolidation would still be valuable, for four teachers can handle 
two hundred and forty pupils far better in a well classified school than 
one can handle sixty in an ungraded school. As a matter of fact there 
are in Texas over 6000 one teacher white schools. There are 533 with 
less than twenty pupils enrolled, and ninety-six with less than ten.* 
If we had taken actual attendance instead of enrollment, the number 
with less than twenty or less than ten pupils would have been much 
larger. In some places in Texas the length of the school term could be 
actually doubled without any additional cost if consolidation were prac- 
tised. 

3. Better teachers can be secured, because of the increased pay, or 

♦These figures are exclusive of independent districts and community counties. Further- 
more a few counties had not reported at the time these statistics were gathered. These 
figures were gotten by a careful compilation from the county reports in the office of the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, but the correct number in each case is un- 
doubtedly far above tbat given here. Our Legislature and our county officials have not yet 
learned the value of statistics, and have made it wellnigh impossible for an Investigator 
to find out the facts. 



—5— 

the increased length of school term, or because of the fact that the work 
with a smaller number of classes and in company with several fellow 
teachers is far more stimulating and attractive. 

4. There is possibility of intelligent supervision of teachers, which is 
now impracticable, with dozens of little schools scattered all over each 
county. 

5. With a larger area to draw from, better trustees are more likely 
to be secured. The possibility of one prominent family "running" the 
school and bulldozing the teacher is also lessened. 

6. Better grading and classification of the pupils is possible. As 
mentioned above, there is almost as great variety of pupils in a school 
of forty as one of a hundred and sixty, and hence the one teacher must, 
in order to get along at all, throw together in the same class pupils of 
very different knowledge and ability. With four teachers to conduct 
classes there is greater opportunity for providing a class to fit each 
pupil's stage of advancement. 

7. Larger classes, if not too large, add to the interest of pupils and 
teachers. The higher classes especially need this at present in our rural 
schools. The one or two pupils in these classes have little stimulus to 
higher work. The presence of a larger number of advanced pupils and 
the possibility of giving these the needed attention will serve to broaden 
the life of the larger boys and girls and hold them in the school. 

8. Each teacher will have fewer classes and hence longer time to 
devote to his own preparation and to the teaching of each lesson. 

9. With four or six teachers in one school it will be possible to add 
other subjects and enrich the curriculum. One teacher could teach 
manual training along with mathematics or some of the sciences. The 
rudiments of agriculture, horticulture, etc., along with nature study, 
have been taught with great success in some of these schools in the middle 
west. W T ith nature's laboratory free at the door, and land almost free, 
and with fairly good text books on agriculture now published, there is 
no reason why our farmers' boys should not be prepared in school to 
carry into the work of agriculture the same training and scientific knowl- 
edge which have improved upon and displaced rule of thumb methods in 
other fields of human endeavor. The splendid work done in the agricul- 
tural high schools of Minnesota shows that this is entirely practicable*. 

If to consolidation transportation is added, as is necessary where many 
single schools are combined into one, the following additional advantages 
arise, as has been shown in actual experience : 

1. The attendance is more regular and tardiness is eliminated. 

2. The attendance is larger. 

3. Pupils are healthier. They do not have to walk through mud or 
rain and then sit in wet shoes all day. 

4. The pupils are under the care of some responsible person all day, 
and hence the girls are protected on the way to and from school, and the 
boys are removed from the temptation to quarrels and other misconduct 
on the way to and from school. 

*The University has nearly ready for publication a bulletin giving full account of the 
methods employed in teaching agriculture in the public schools, showing what has been 
•done elsewhere, and how, and outlining a plan for courses in our own schools. This will be 
sent free on request. 



—6— 

5. The central building with its assembly room, library and piano 
affords a social and intellectual center for the community. The same 
wagonette which carries the children to school in the day may bring the 
parents together at night or on Saturday for school entertainments, pub- 
lic lectures, debating clubs, or farmers' institutes. 

In short, the consolidated rural school brings to the country that thing 
the absence of which has driven so many families to town and so many 
boys off the farm, namely a well classified, well equipped, well taught 
school. It will be no longer necessary for the well-to-do farmer to move 
to town to educate his children, nor will he need to spend his money 
on boarding schools and subject his boys to the moral dangers arising 
from life in a city away from parental care. The consolidated rural 
school will enable parents to furnish their children a first class school, 
and at the same time keep them in their own home under their own 
care, where they may be of service to the home, and receive that part of 
education which the home alone can give. 

OBJECTIONS AND DIFFICULTIES. 

As might be expected, human ignorance and human selfishness have 
always led people to oppose the consolidation of schools when first 
proposed. To those local tyrants who are determined to run things their 
own way, or to those who think that their friend or kinsman must 
be furnished a little school to teach regardless of the welfare of the chil- 
dren or of the community, nothing can be said. The power of the local 
tyrant is undoubtedly lessened by consolidation, and the more incom- 
petent ones of the local teachers will be the first to lose their jobs. The 
sentimental objection to closing the little school house down the lane 
will likewise be unaffected by rational considerations. Other objections 
based on neither greed nor sentiment are brought which deserve consider- 
ation. It is urged against consolidation : 

1. It is too expensive. In answer to this it can be said that as a 
matter of fact the expeDse per pupil has been reduced more often than 
increased, in spite of the fact that a better school has been provided and 
the cost of transportation is added. In the quotations given later there 
is one case in which consolidation reduced the cost from $16.00 to $10.48 
per pupil enrolled, in another from $5.03 to $2.31, and gave a better 
school because of more intelligent plan of organization. Other cases 
may be seen in the quotations given later in this bulletin. It has been 
pointed out above why the expense for both teachers and buildings may 
be actually lessened. 

2. The farms, remote from the central school, will depreciate in 
value. As a matter of experience, the value of the farms, as far as we 
have found, had invariably increased in the entire district. Certainly 
the presence of a good school should add to the value of property within 
the entire range of free transportation. 

3. Pupils in going so far to a central school have to leave home too 
early and return too late, or they are too much exposed to weather in tlie 
long drives to and from school, or are in danger from immoral drivers. 
As a matter of fact, it takes no longer to ride three or four or five miles — 
the greatest distance for the most distant pupils — than to walk half that 



— 7— 



distance, which (is frequently done. Careless or immoral drivers are a 
real danger which must be carefully guarded against. To insure com- 
fort and safety in conveyance the rules governing transportation should 
require a rain proof wagonette, with plenty of robes, a safe team and 
reliable driver. The drivers should be as carefully chosen as the 
teachers. Frequently some of the parents do this work, or some older 
responsible pupil acts as driver and is thus enabled to remain in school 
and complete the course. The driver calls at each home at a fixed time 
and is required to start and complete his work at fixed hours. In all the 
districts we have studied 7:15 is the earliest hour at which a driver 
called for a pupil. In this case the pupil lived five and a half miles from 
the school. Experience has shown that pupils get home earlier and more 
safely in this way than under the present plan. 

4. There is lastly a natural fear that our country schools may get 
too large classes, become too mechanically graded, as are many city 
schools, and crush out the individuality of the pupils, to which the old 
country school gave such opportunity for development. It is a fact that 
many strong personalities have come from our old-field schools. In a 
one-teacher ungraded school each individual gets so little attention and 
aid from the teacher that the pupil is left pretty much to educate him- 
self or not, as he chooses. In cases of geniuses this may be an advantage. 
Geniuses are possibly as often retarded as helped by teachers, and since 
in the one teacher school the pupil gets less help from the teacher, the 
individual genius can better go his own gait. However, most pupils are 
not geniuses and are helped by teachers, else we should never have schools 
at all If we are to have them at all, let us organize them so that the 
teachers can best teach their pupils. It is not at all necessary for the 
consolidated rural school to organize and grade the life out ot itself. 
The rural schools have the advantage of the experience of the city schools 
and need not repeat their errors. The problem of respecting and 
developing individuality in large well classified schools has been well met 
in many paces by wide awake and thoughtful teachers even m cities, 
where the task is far more difficult than it ever will be in the country. 
Experience again has shown here, what reason foretold, that the con- 
solidated school not only does not crush out the individuality of the 
pupil, but, on the contrary, the bright pupil in the larger country school, 
where all the boys of a whole district are gathered, has better opportunity 
for development of his special talent because of the stimulus and inspira- 
tion coming from contact with other bright minds of his own age. 

There are just two very genuine difficulties in the way of consolidation: 
namely, bad roads and sparse population. These make it entirely im- 
practicable in many parts of Texas at the present time But even after 
we eliminate all this vast area there remain hundreds of districts in the 
State in which consolidation is entirely feasible and urgently needed. 
Texas is a whole empire in itself, presenting all educational problems and 
all classs of conditions. There are enough places ready for consolidation 
to occupy our best efforts for several years, after which many more places 
will be ready, for it is a matter of only a few years when roads will be 
built even in the black lands. 



THE SITUATION IN TEXAS. 



With over 6000 one-teacher white schools, with more than 600 schools 
enrolling less than twenty pupils, and over 100 enrolling less than ten, 
Texas would seem to offer a large field for Consolidation of Schools. 
If, in connection with this fact, one but considers the utter absence of 
equipment and the interminable list of lessons which must be heard 
each day by the teacher in each of the one-teacher schools, the need for 
consolidation becomes too obvious for discussion. For the enlighten- 
ment of those not familiar with the hopeless task now set many of our 
rural teachers, we give here two samples of the daily programs in actual 
operation. 

A MILAM COUNTY ONE-TEACHER SCHOOL, DAILY PROGRAM. 

Singing 8 :45 to 8 :55. 

Eoll call 8 :55 to 9 :00. 

Spelling class, A 9 :00 to 9 :05. 

Spelling class, B 9 :05 to 9 :10. 

Chart class 9 :10 to 9 :20. 

First Eeader 9 :20 to 9 :30. 

Higher Arithmetic ' 9 :30 to 9 :45. 

Lower Arithmetic, No. 1 9 :45 to 10 :00. 

Lower Arithmetic, No. 2 10 :00 to 10 :15. 

Eecess 10 :15 to 10 :30. 

Chart class 10 :30 to 10 :35. 

First Eeader 10 :35 to 10 :45. 

Second Eeader 10 :45 to 10 :55. 

Civil Government 10:55 to 11 :05. 

Third Eeader 11 :05 to 11 :20. 

Fourth Eeader 11 :20 to 11 :35. 

Texas History 11 :35 to 11 :50. 

United States History 11 :50 to 12 :05. 

Noon recess 12 :05 to 1 :05. 

Number class 1 :05 to 1 :15. 

Chart class 1 :15 to 1 :25. 

First Eeader 1 :25 to 1 :35. 

Elementary Geography 1 :35 to 1 :50. 

Grammar School 1 :50 to 2 :00. 

Physical Geography 2 :00 to 2 :15. 

Second Eeader 2 :15 to 2 :25. 

Hyde's Langauge Lessons, 1 2 :25 to 2 :40. 

Hyde's Language Lessons, II 2 :40 to 2:55. 

Eecess 2 :55 to 3 :10. 

Chart class 3 :10 to 3 :15. # 

First Eeader 3 :15 to 3 :25. 



— 9— 

Physiology, 2d book 3 :25 to 3 :40. 

Physiology, 1st book 3 :40 to " 3 :50. 

Spelling, B 3 :50 to 3 :55. 

Spelling, A 3:55 to 4:05. 

Writing, whole school 4 :05 to 4 :20. 

A total of thirty-two lessons, ranging from A B C's to Physical Geo- 
graphy and Civil Government. 

Another one-teacher school program in daily operation : 

Writing, 8 :50 to 9 :00. 

U. S. History. 

Texas History. 

General History. 

First Beader. 

Second Header. 

Third Header. 

Fifth Reader. 

Becess, 10:20 to 10:30. 

Higher Arithmetic. 

Third Arithmetic. 

Second Arithmetic. 

First Arithmetic. 

Grammar (Sisk). 

Grammar (Hyde). 

Language. 

First Beader. 

Noon recess, 12 :00 to 1 :00. 

Bhetoric. 

First Beader. 

Physiology ( Conn ) . 

Physiology, Lower. 

Physical Geography. 

Second Beader. 

Third Beader. 

Political Geography. 

Elementary Geography. 

Higher Algebra and Elementary Algebra (at same time). 

Becess, 2 :50 to 3 :00. 

First Beader. 

Civil Government. 

Geometry. 

Higher Speller. 

Second Speller, definitions. 

Dismiss. 

Here is a teacher actually attempting to teach each day: three dif- 
ferent history classes; nine reading classes; four arithmetic and two 
algebra classes; two grammar, one language, one rhetoric, and two spell- 
ing classes; two classes in geography, and one in physical geography; 
two classes in physiology and one in civil government; making a total 
of thirty-one classes, covering almost a complete primary and grammar 
school curriculum with a few high school subjects added. The task is 



—10— 

manifestly an impossible one. It is from three to five times what is ex- 
pected of good teachers in our best city common schools, where usually 
only one grade of lessons is taught by one teacher, or in the high schools, 
where one teacher usually teaches only one, two or three subjects. 

The above daily programs give no exaggerated impression of the diffi- 
culty usually present in the one-teacher schools in Texas. 

In order to introduce consolidation in Texas there is fortunately no 
new law required. The number and location of schools within any dis- 
trict are entirely within the control of the trustees of said district ; hence, 
all the legal, procedure necessary for consolidating, either in whole or in 
part, the schools within any district is that the trustees so order it. 1 
If wider consolidation is desired, two or more adjacent school districts 
may, by vote of a majority of the qualified voters of each district and 
with the approval of the county superintendent, be consolidated. 2 In 
places where complete consolidation of neighboring districts is not feasi- 
ble the well-known transfer law will usually cover all needs when estab- 
lishing central consolidated schools near a district line. 3 

It will be necessary in each case where a large new building is de- 
manded, or where transportation is needed, that the expense of build- 
ing and of transportation be met by local tax, since the State funds can 
be used only for the payment of teachers, of the treasurer and of the 
census taker. This small local tax must be raised, under the present or 
any other system, if our schools are ever to be worthy of the name. 
There are now in Texas more than 2050 districts levying a local tax, and 
the number is rapidly increasing. The rapid progress of this movement 
in the last few years is a most hopeful sign. The number of districts levy- 
ing a local tax has increased 130 per cent within three years. The large 
central school fund in Texas came near becoming a menace to the ad- 
vance of our schools, in leading many of our citizens to think that no 
local tax is necessary. As a matter of fact, the State funds provide only 
about $5 per year for each child, whereas in the better educated 
States from $20 to $38 per year per child is provided, largely 
through local taxation. Of air the funds expended on public schools 
in the United States as a whole, 80 per cent is derived from 
local taxation, while in Texas as yet only about 33 per cent is 
raised by local tax. A moment's consideration will show how hope- 
less is the situation without local tax. Forty pupils are a large 
number for one teacher even in a well-graded school. This number at 
$5 per pupil would furnish just $200 per year — a salary not likely to 
command a very high order of teacher. The local tax is an absolute 
necessity under any plan. The amount of local tax which would be de- 
manded to establish good rural schools under the present wasteful plan 
would be very great, but under a rational system of consolidation the tax 
demanded for really good schools need not be burdensome. Where a 
district is "Independent" and can issue long-time bonds, the expense of 

•See Sec. 57, School Laws of Texas, 1901. (Art. 3959, Revised Statutes.) 

3 3ee Sec. 42, School Laws of Texas, 1901. (Art. 3938, Revised Statutes, as amended by the 
26th Legislature); also Sec. 44, for County Line District (Art. 3946 (a), Revised Statutes). 

3 See Sees. 87 and 88, School Laws of Texas, 1901. (Art. 3982, Revised Statutes, and Art. 3934, 
Revised Statutes.) 



—11— 

a large four or six-room consolidated school building is easily met. 1 As 
will be shown later on, the only legislation needed is the removal of the 
present restriction upon incorporation and issuance of bonds for school 
purposes, so that strictly rural communities may have the same privilege 
now enjoyed by those districts containing a village of 200 inhabitants. 

Three thousand dollars in thirty-year 5 per cent bonds will cost $150 
the first year for interest, and $100 per year sinking fund, the interest 
growing $5 less each year for thirty years. Thus $250 would be the cost 
the first year, and $105 the last year for this $3000 school building. 




Existing icHOtJi-* 

Proposed Central School. 

MoivtES WITH CHU-OREN 



Diagram No. 1 representing a district in Bexar County needing Consolidation of Schools. 

The cost of maintenance would, of course, depend upon local condi- 
tions. As examples of what might be done in hundreds of districts in 
Texas, we give facts, with charts, for several districts of which we happen 
to know. It is not claimed that these are the best places in which to 
begin consolidation in Texas. There are probably many other places 
unknown to us which are even better adapted to immediate consolidation. 

Diagram No. 1 is of a district in Bexar county which has been fur- 



l There are now in Texas more than 410 Independent Districts. 



—12— 

nished us by Supt. P. F. Stewart, to whom we are also indebted for the 
following facts : "In this district five schools are at present maintained 
with an enrollment of 288, and an average attendance of 200. If these 
schools were all closed and one five-room school established at the pojnt 
indicated on the diagram, three routes would need to be laid out for the 
transportation of pupils. One route six miles long, one seven, and one 
eight, as indicated in the diagram, would pass within easy reach of 80 
per cent of the children needing transportation. The majority of the 
children would be within walking distance of the school. The roads on 
all routes indicated are fairly good and could be made good with but 
slight outlay of labor. At present six teachers are employed at a cost of 
$300 per month. The quality of these schools is about on a par with 
average ungraded rural schools. 

"The probable cost of a new five-room building would be $2300. The 
five old buildings would sell for about $800, leaving a balance of $1500 
to be met. Thirty-year 5 per cent bonds to cover this amount would cost 
on the average $88.75 per year. A good principal could be secured for 
$75 per month, four fair assistants for $50 each per month. The total 
expenses, then, for an eight-months term would be as follows : 

Tax for building $ 88.75. 

Principal's salary, eight months, at $75 600.00. 

Four teachers, eight months, at $50 each 1600.00. 

Transportation, eight months, at $100 800.00. 

Eepairs and incidentals 180.00. 

Total . .$3268.75. 

To meet this expense there would be the following : 

State apportionment (about 400 children) $2000.00. 

Local tax now levied 300.00. 

Over and under age pupils 300.00. 

Total $2600.00. 

"This would leave a balance of $668.75 to be met by local tax or sub- 
scription. The taxable values in this district are approximately $196,- 
000. A tax of less than five mills would raise the local tax from $300 
to $975, thus furnishing all the funds needed to establish and maintain 
this consolidated school. Here we would have an eight-months school, 
a large, well-equipped building, a well-trained principal, a school well 
graded, so that the number of classes to be taught each day by each 
teacher would be less than half of what is now required in the one-teacher 
schools. Under these conditions the teachers could prepare each les- 
son better and teach it more effectively. Furthermore, with four as- 
sistants to teach the common school grades, the principal would be 
able to introduce the most substantial of the high school studies, and 
thus bring to the door of our agricultural population the 'Peoples' Col- 
lege,' which would prepare the boys and girls at their homes either for 
intelligent citizenship or for entrance into the higher institutions of 
learning. As soon as our higher institutions furnish a supply of teach- 
ers able to teach agriculture and manual training, these subjects could 



-13— 



easily be added to the course. Under the present plan of one-teacher 
schools this is impossible. There is simply no comparison between the 
present school work of four months in the little one-teacher schools and 
the work which could be done under a rational plan of consolidation/' 




-TLcL^Li. 



Diagram No. 2 representing a district in Milam County needing Consolidation of Schools. 
■ Represents existing schools: x represents homes with children: * represents starting 
points for wagonette: - - - represents roads wagonette routes. 

Diagram No. 2 is that of a district in Milam county, which was fur- 
nished by Supt. F. J. Clements, to whom we are indebted also for the 
following facts : 

"In this district there are at present four schools, employing five 
teachers, with 195 pupils enrolled, and an average attendance of about 
110. If these schools were closed and a four-room central school estab- 
lished at the point indicated on the diagram, much the larger part of the 
pupils would still be within walking distance. For those distantly lo- 
cated three transportation routes would suffice, one three miles, one 
four miles, and one four and a half miles long. The roads on all routes 
are fairly good. 

"At present the five teachers cost $230 per month for an average of 
five and a half months each year; total $1215. Eepairs and other ex- 



—14— 

penses bring the grand total to $1275. This gives a five and a half 
months' schooling, the quality of which may be judged by the program 
sent. The probable cost of a new four-room central building would be 
$1800. The present old buildiDgs and school property would sell for 
$600, leaving $1200 to be met by local tax or subscription. Thirty-year 
5 per cent bonds to cover this amount would cost the district on an 
average less than a hundred dollars per year. A good principal for the 
school would cost $75 per month, and fair assistants $40 per month. 
The total expenses, then, for an eight months' term of this well-graded 
and competently taught school would be as follows : 

Tax for building $ 100.00. 

Principal's salary, eight months, at $75 600.00. 

Three teachers, eight months, at $40 960.00. 

Transportation, eight months, at $90 720.00. 

Incidentals 100.00. 

Total $2480.00. 

To meet this expense there would be the following receipts: 

State and county apportionment (about 195 pupils) $1030.00. 

Present local tax 250.00. 

Pupils over and under age (probably) 200.00. 

Total $1480.00. 

"This leaves a balance of $1000 to be met by local taxation. The taxable 
would raise the school funds from $1480 to $2480, thus giving all that is 
would raise the local funds from $1480 to $2480, thus giving all that is 
needed to put a good well-graded school with an eight months' term in 
place of the four little schools now struggling against hopeless difficul- 
ties for five and one-half months each year. The cost would be almost 
a fourth less if the school lasted only six months. In this case, however, 
it would not be possible to get as good quality of teachers. The ad- 
vantages of the consolidated school over the present plan are so ap- 
parent and have been so often stated that I will not enumerate them 
here. 

"Only two of the districts included in the proposed consolidated dis- 
trict collect a local tax at present. If the property in the four dis- 
tricts was assessed at one-half its market value, a four-mill tax would 
more than pay all expenses of a consolidated school. Since consolidation 
usually increases average attendance from 40 to 50 per cent, the average 
cost per month per pupil would be about $1.80 per month instead of 
$2.10, the present cost, thus making an actual decrease in per capita 
expense." 

Diagram No. 3, which represents a district centering around Alvin, 
was furnished by Supt. R, R. Foster, to whom we are indebted also 
for the following facts: 

"In the district surrounding Alvin there are as indicated, five public 
schools, one four miles from Alvin, another three, another two and a 
half, another one and a half, and another one and a quarter. These 
schools employ for six months six teachers, enroll 220 pupils, and have 



—15— 

an average daily attendance of about 140 pupils. If these schools were 
closed and all the pupils came to the Alvin schools, a large majority 
would be still within walking distance, and those distantly located could 
be transported in two wagonettes, each having a route six miles long, as 
indicated on the diagram. These roads are good. 

"Alvin is an independent school district, with 190 white scholastic 
population, drawing $950 of State funds, and with a local tax of five 




Diagram No. 3 representing a district in Brazoria county surrounding Alvin, and present- 
ing opportunities for consolidation of schools. ■ represents existing schools. * represents 
starting points for wagonettes. - - - represents roads and wagonette routes. 



mills, yielding $1250. It expends $2300 per year on its schools, which 
are open for eight months, and employs a principal and five teachers. 
The school building has six rooms capable of accommodating at pres- 
ent 240 pupils. If the rural pupils were brought to this building, five 
additional rooms would be needed. This would cost, approximately, 
$5000. The present rural school property would sell for about $1500, 
leaving $3500 to be raised. The cost of 5 per cent thirty-year bonds to 
cover this would be less than $300 per year. No extra principal would be 



—16— 

needed, but three extra teachers would, at $50 per month, cost $1200 per 
year. The cost for transportation would be about $125 per month for 
eight months; total, $1000. The total extra cost above the present ex- 
penses of the Alvin schools of providing for all these pupils for eight 
months in Alvin then be about $2500 per year. The cost of the five sepa- 
rate rural schools is now $345 per month for six months; total, $2070. 
This leaves $430 as the total extra cost to the district for substituting 
eight months of a well-taught graded school for six months of our 
present unclassified and poorly-taught schools. The taxable values in 
this district outside of Alvin are about $300;000. A local tax, then, 
of two mills would cover this expense." 





■ 






■ 

■ 

as - 


: ■ 

es 






■4o 


■ 






m 

so 







Diagram No. 4, representing an area five miles square in the northeastern part of Travis 
county, the black squares represent existing schools, the figures beneath indicating the num- 
ber of pupils enrolled. 



Diagram No. 4 does not represent exactly the present district lines, 
but an area in the northeastern part of Travis county five miles square. 
The exact lines of the present school district could not be gotten with- 
out a deal of effort that would hardly have been justified. While the 
present district lines would vary somewhat from this, the difference 
would not be enough to seriously interfere with the statements made 
below. We are indebted to Supt. Will Brady and to Judge Z. T. Ful- 
more for assistance in securing information about this district. 

There are at present in this district seven schools, employing seven 
teachers, enrolling over three hundred pupils, with an average daily at- 
tendance of about two hundred and twenty-five. These pupils could 



—17— 

be better cared for by five teachers in a five-room building near the center 
of the district. The few pupils beyond walking distance could be 
conveyed to school. The new building would cost about $2500. The pres- 
ent property would sell for about $400, leaving $2100 to be raised locally 
by subscription or taxes. This, in thirty-year 5 per cent bonds, would 
cost on an average less than a hundred and fifty dollars per year. The 
cost, then, of a six-months' school would be as follows: 

Building tax $ 150.00. 

Principal, six months, at $75 450.00. 

Four teachers, six months, at $50 1200.00. 

Transportation, six months, at $100 600.00. 

Incidentals 25.00. 

Total $2425.00. 

To meet this there is at present only the State apportionment of about 
$2000. The district would have to raise, therefore, by local tax, $425. 
The taxable property in this district is listed at about $300,000, which 
at two mills tax would furnish the additional funds required to give this 
whole district a well-graded six-months' school. This school would be 
far better than the present schools, but still would have too many pupils 
to the teacher even when well-graded. Two additional teachers and 
two extra rooms would add about seven hundred dollars more of ex- 
pense, but would give a good school still for less than a four-mills' tax. 

As there is no central hamlet of 200 inhabitants in this district or 
those shown in Milam or Bexar counties, it is impossible under the pres- 
ent law for these people to incorporate and levy a local tax of more than 
two mills. In the districts fortunate enough to include a village of 200 
inhabitants the law does not stand in the way of progress by preventing 
incorporation and taxation above two mills, but in the thousands of 
strictly rural districts the law, by forbidding incorporation for increased 
taxation, absolutely precludes the betterment of our rural schools. Our 
next Legislature should see that this obstacle to progress is removed. 

Common school districts which can not incorporate and issue bonds 
must be content with consolidation in a small way, using the larger ones 
of the present small buildings unless they can find some one willing to 
trust the unsecured pledge of the district. This is done now in many 
cases for small amounts. Here is a fine opportunity for some one who 
is looking for a field for well-placed philanthropy. 

If two such consolidated rural schools, costing about $3000 each, 
could be started as models, the spread of the movement would be as- 
sured. We stand ready to point out such districts to any one who wishes 
to give this matter serious consideration. 

A very limited study of the location of school houses in a few coun- 
ties has disclosed a great need in many districts for consolidation of 
two or more small schools, without transportation. The multiplying of 
little half-starved schools is a great mistake which earnest school trustees 
should correct at once. Several places have come under our notice in 
which the school term could be practically doubled by simply putting two 
little schools into one, and even then no pupil would be at an impossible 
distance from the school. 



—18— 

Texas will never attain the prominence and power which the fertility 
of her natural resource and the splendid native manhood of her people 
merit until to native genius are added education and training. Nothing 
is so costly as ignorance and lack of skill. Texas can no longer afford 
to develop so small a portion of her vast physical and mental resources. 
The State with its fertile fields and immense area must ever be largely 
agricultural and its population rural. The men and women who will 
manage the farms must be educated or fall behind in competition with 
other sections of the country which are introducing educated and trained 
workers and scientific methods of work. The rural schools must fur- 
nish this education. The most economical plan, the most feasible plan, 
is the consolidation of the present wretched little schools into larger 
central schools, better equipped, better classified, better taught, to which 
all the boys and girls of the the whole district are brought to acquire 
that training and education needed to meet the ever-increasing demands 
made by our growing civilization. 

In the increased prosperity which these educated minds and skilled 
hands will bring, all alike will share, whether they be farmers, land 
owners, merchants, workmen or professional men. Every Texan has a 
personal interest in pressing forward this movement for the better edu- 
cation of the backbone of our citizenship. 



PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE 



CONSOLIDATION 



OTHER STATES. 



IOWA. 



In Iowa sixty-three districts have adopted consolidation, and eighty 
districts have provided transportation. The most interesting case men- 
tioned by Supt. Barrett, in his Eeport for 1901, is that of Buffalo Center 
District, in Winnebago county*. "Prior to October 1 ; 1897, the laws of 
Iowa provided that whenever the board of directors of any existing dis- 
trict-township should deem the same advisable, and also whenever re- 
quested to do so by a petition, signed by one-third of the voters of the dis- 
trict-township, it should submit to the voters of that township * * * 
the question of consolidation. If a majority of the votes cast were in 
favor of a consolidated organization, the district-township composed of 
subdistricts became an independent district. Acting under this statute 
the people of Buffalo Center township, in Winnebago county, in 1895, 
formed an independent district, embracing the entire civil township, six 
miles square, and voted bonds, running for a period ot ten years, for the 
purpose of erecting an eight-room building. 

"At the time the township became independent it was not proposed to 
close the rural schools and transport the children. This was an after con- 
sideration, and arose from the demand upon the part of the people of the 
rural districts for better school facilities. On August 23, 1897, the resi- 
dents of what was formerly known as sub-district No. 3 requested the 
board to furnish transportation for their children to a central school. 
The request was granted and the outlying school closed. On August 30, 
of the same year, the board arranged for the transportation of the children 
in districts Nos. 2 and 4. In August 17, 1898, the board, upon petition, 
arranged for the transportation of children from another ward. In 
April, 1899, the board having noted the success with which their efforts 
had been attended, ordered all the rural schools in the district to be closed, 

*Iowa Biennial Report of the Department of Public Instruction 1901, pages 78-80. 



-20— 



except those in the extreme northeastern and southeastern portions of the 
township. 

"Contracts for years 1900-01 provided for the transportation of ninety- 
eight children. Six routes are laid out, and one team is provided for each. 
For convenience the routes are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, beginning with 
the one running north^f rom the central school. The greatest distance the 
children most remote from the central school on the different routes are 
conveyed is as follows : 

Route 1 3.50 miles. 

Eoute 2 4.50 miles. 

Route 3 5.50 miles. 

Route 4 5.75 miles. 

Route 5 5.50 miles. 

Route 6 6.25 miles. 




!i U !*. , ■_ iv -i •V'x 






^-,J. 



4TS 



_j 



ion* 

■V- — , 



Jr 



• rr --? 



*^k 



t 



S 



gj CcHTRAL SCHopi. * Houses w.rtvCMd^s 
B ABANOONEp.5c^ooL 

Schools an/ use $T Stok/t^ P<?.r>-f~ 



Diagram of Buffalo Center Township showing Central school and routes of wagonettes 

in collecting pupils. 



"Winnebago county is one of the newer counties, and the roads have not 
been so thoroughly graded and drained as in the older sections, conse- 
quently the roads are not so good as in many parts of the State. * * * 



—21— 

The time required to convey children to and from the central school de- 
pends upon the condition of the roads. * * * When very muddy the 
drivers begin collecting the children at from 7:15 to 8:15, according to 
the length of the route, and return them to their homes from 4 :45 p. m. 
to 5 :45 p. m. 

"The compensation paid the drivers is $30.00 per month, except on 
Eoute 1 where only $25.00 are paid. For this amount they are required 
to furnish their own properly covered, strong, safe, suitable vehicle sub- 
ject to the approval of the board, with comfortable seats, and a safe, 
strong, quiet team, with proper harness, with which to convey and col- 
lect safely and comfortably all the pupils of the school age on the route, 
and to furnish warm, comfortable blankets or robes sufficient for the 
best protection and comfort for each and all pupils to and from the pub- 
lic school building and their respective homes. They agree to collect all 
the pupils by driving to each and all the homes where pupils reside, and 
to get them to school not earlier than 8 :40, and not later than 8 :45. 
They are required to drive personally and manage the team, and refrain 
from the use of any profane or vulgar language within the hearing or 
presence of the pupils, nor may they use tobacco in any form during the 
time they are conveying children. They are not permitted to drive 
faster than a trot, and are required to keep order and report improper 
conduct on part of the pupils to the principal or president of the board. 
* * * To insure the contract being kept one-half the salary is held 
back each month. 

"In 1894 the district township was composed of six sub-districts, and 
required six buildings, six teachers and six sets of apparatus . * * * 
The average daily attendance of the entire district township for this year 
(six months) was 90. For the year ending September, 1900, eight 
teachers were employed for nine months, and the average daily attend- 
ance was 290. Estimating the average cost of tuition per month per 
pupil upon the total expenditure for school purposes we find it to have 
been $5.03 in 1894 under the plan of separate schools, while in 1900 it 
was $2.31." 

INDIANA. 

Supt. Frank Jones of Indiana gives in his report for 1902, an interest- 
ing account of the consolidation which has taken place in one or more 
groups of schools in fifty-one counties in his State. The following re- 
marks on the Hamilton township consolidated schools are typical. 

"If any one has doubts of the wisdom of the consolidation of schools 
he should visit this school, located just outside the small village of Eoyer- 
ton. * * * Here are gathered each day 192 pupils, 118 of whom are 
conveyed at public expense in wagons owned by the township. Seventy- 
four pupils belong to the original Eoyerton district and of course con- 
tinue to walk to the school. 

************ 

"The prices paid for drivers are as follows: 

*Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Indiana, pages 729-735. Also The 
Western Journal of Education, pages 468-79. 



—22— 

Route No. 1 3.50 miles, $1.00, 12 children. 

Route No. 2 3.50 miles, $1.00, 8 children. 

Route No. 3 4.50 miles, $1.25, 16 children. 

Route No. 4 ...*... .5.75 miles, $1.60, 19 children. 

Route No. 5 5.50 miles, $1.60, 25 children. 

Route No. 6 3.25 miles, $1.25, 17 children. 

Route No. 7 3.75 miles, $1.25, 12 children. 

Route No. 8 5.25 miles, $1.50, 9 children. 

"I made a personal inspection of this school on October 6, 1902. I 
asked the pupils to tell me what they thought of the plan, and lacked one 
vote of having it unanimously in favor of transportation. The one pupil 
who did not like it said that he could state no objections. The enthusi- 
asm, happiness, industry and good health of the pupils were more marked 
than in any other rural school that. I have visited. Here are gathered 
enough pupils to have in one class an active competition and genuine class 
enthusiasm. The 'hum-drum' of a one pupil class is not seen here. The 
collection of enough country pupils with good habits, good health, and in- 
dustry, with all the graded school advantages makes here a school even 
better than the best city graded school. All the teachers are qualified, 
well trained and experienced. A music supervisor visits them once each 
week, and the consolidation enables the county superintendent to super- 
vise when necessary. * * * There is also a high school department with 
twenty-seven pupils, four of them young men who act as drivers for the 
wagons, and are thus kept in school. * * * The attendance is always 
good, and punctuality is nearly perfect, tardiness being almost unknown. 
The wagons are owned by the township, and cost from $80.00 to $125.00 
each. * * * 

"The following shows the comparative cost of the two plans : 

DISTEICT PLAN. 

Salaries for seven teachers, seven months $2,492.00 

Institute fee for seven institutes 124.60 

Fuel for seven rooms, $30.00 per room 210.00 

Supplies for seven rooms, $10.00 per room 70.00 

Repairs for seven rooms, $20.00 per room 140.00 

Total $3,036.60 

CONSOLIDATION PLAN. 

Salaries for four teachers, seven months $1,442.00 

Institute fee for seven institutes 72.00 

Fuel for four rooms, $30.00 per room 120.00 

Supplies for four rooms, $10.00 per room 40.00 

Repairs for four rooms, $20.00 per room 80.00 

Transportation at $8.87 per day 1,225.00 

Total $2,979.00 

Difference in favor of consolidation $ 57.50 



—23— 



OHIO AND ILLINOIS. 



0.. T. Carson, State Commissioner of Common Schools, in his report 
to the Governor of Ohio for 1896 says : "The expense of schooling the 
children has heen reduced nearly one-half, the daily attendance has 
been very largely increased and the quality of work done has been greatly 
improved."* 

Supt. 0. J. Kern of Winnebago county, 111., after an inspection and 
study of the consolidated schools of Ohio introduced consolidation into 
his own county. The following is taken from the report which he made 
after this visit and inspection: 



two. 



rd Township, Winncba.go Co. III. 




m Aba-ndoncd school 6u.ildin.qs. 

a /Vew central school bui/d t'ng. 

• Remai'nino) district school Suz'/di'nqs. 

(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 
* Western Journal of Eduation, page 427. 



-24— 




AOC4IGN KOf> Tilt JMPOOVEMENTS *fUZ> PLANTING 
or- th« 
.SeWAJ^O SCMOOL GROUND* 



(Courtesy of Supt. 0. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



—25— 



CONSOLIDATED XWcL 

AT ^Da/ADD 
WINNCDAGO CQ = ILL 




TPONT CLCVAT10N 

(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



—26— 



66 -a 




BOEMCNT PLAN 



(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



—27— 



65- B' 




^W VESTIBULE ^f 



HB3T HOOD PLAN 




SECOND rLOOQ DLAN' 



(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



—28— 

"The first place we visited was Perry, Lake county, where there is a 
Township High School. The principal, Prof. Morrison, is a pioneer in 
the matter of centralization. He assured us that the experiment was no 
longer an experiment, that the new movement was the logical solution 
of the country school problem, and that centralization of districts with 
transportation of pupils had come to stay. It gave much better schools 
with but a slight, if any, increase in the cost to the township. The 
opposition to the plan has long since died out. This has been the testi- 
mony at every place visited thus far. * * * 

MADISON TOWNSHIP. 

"Madison township, Lake county, presents an excellent illustration of 
what may be called partial centralization, that is a grouping of two, 
three or four schools into one witihout attempting to bring all the 
schools to the geographical centre of the township. The latter method 
would not be practical because of the shape of Madison township. It 
is nine miles long and five miles wide. * * * 

THE KINGSVILLE SCHOOL. 

"As to the result of the Kingsville experiment, I can do no better than 
to quote from the Arena for July, 1899. 

" ' * * * The residents of the sub-districts of Kingsville township 
which have adopted this plan would deem it a retrogression to go back to 
the old sub-district plan. It has given the school system of Kingsville an 
individuality which makes it unique and progressive. Pupils from every 
p>art of the township enjoy graded school education, whether they live 
in the most remote corner of the township or at the very doors of the 
central school. The line between the country bred and the village bred 
youth is blotted out. They study the same books, are competitors for 
the same honors, and engage in the same sports and pastimes. This 
mingling of the pupils from the sub-districts and the village has had a 
deepening and broadening influence upon the former without any dis- 
advantages to the latter. With the grading of the school and the larger 
number of pupils have come teachers of a highly educated class. Higher 
branches of study are taught, the teachers are more conversant with the 
needs of their profession. The salaries are higher; the health of the 
pupils is preserved, because they are not compelled to walk to school in 
slush, snow and rain, to sit with damp and perhaps wet feet in ill-venti- 
lated buildings. Nor is there any lounging by the wayside. As the use . 
of indecent and obscene language is prohibited in the wagons all oppor- 
tunities for quarreling or improper conduct on the way to and from 
school are removed. The attendance is larger, and in the sub-districts 
which have taken advantage of the plan it has increased from 50 to 150 
per cent, in some cases; truancy is unknown. It has lengthened the 
school year for some of the sub-districts; it has increased the demand 
for farms in those sub-districts which have adopted the plan, and real 
estate therein is reported more saleable. The drivers act as daily mail 
carriers. All parts of the township have been brought into closer touch 
and sympathy. The cost of maintainance is less than that of the schools 



—29— 

under the sub-district plan; the township has had no school houses to 
build ; it has paid less for repair and fuel. Since the schools were con- 
solidated the incidental expenses have decreased from $800 to $1100 per 
year to from $400 to $600 per year. In the first three years following 
its adoption Kingsville township actually saved $1000/* 

"Prof. York, superintendent of the above mentioned Kingsville school, 
says, concerning the system of consolidation : 'The best physical labora- 
tory in America is the well regulated American farm. Here the boys 
ancl girls study nature first hand. Here they observe the growth and 
life of plants and animals. Here they breathe pure air, become familiar 




Diagram of Gustavus Township showing the central school and trans- 
portation routes. 

(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 

with the beauties and wonders of the natural world. Here they make- 
character. To have added to all these opportunities the advantages of 
a high school education without any of the disadvantages that attend 
the spending of evenings without chores or home duties in the town, 
is an educational condition that is almost ideal.'* 

GUSTAVUS AND GEEEN TOWNSHIPS. 

"We wished to find centralized schools in a purely country township,, 
where there was no village or village school, a place where country life 

* Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 428. 



/>. 



—30— 

was being preserved. We went thirty-five miles south of Ashtabula, and 
visited Gustavus and Green townships in Trumbull county. The first 
place visited was Gustavus. This township is exactly five miles square, 
as are all the townships of the Western Eeserve, with the exception of 
those along the shore of Lake Erie. In Gustavus township the town 
hall is situated exactly in the center of the township, as is the case in 
Green township. Here was a church, a country store and post office, 
and a few houses. 

"I had a picture of the centralized school of Gustavus, and was anxious 
to see the real thing. We saw it, and all was as represented. The school 
building is located in the center of the township. The school has been 
in operation two years. It is a four room school, having a principal 
and three assistants. All the children of the township are brought to 
this central school, and nine wagons are employed in the transportation. 




Wagons used in the transportation of children, Gustavus township, Trumbull Co., Ohio. 
(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



"The wagons are provided with curtains, lap robes, soap stones, etc., 
for severe weather. The Board of Education exercises as much care in the 
selection of drivers as they do in teachers. The contract for each route 
is let out to the lowest responsible bidder, who is under bond to fulfill 
his obligations. The drivers are required to have the children on the 
school grounds at 8:45 a. m., which does away with tardiness, and to 
leave for home at 3:45 p. m. The wagons call at every farm house, 
where there are school children, the children thus stepping into the 
wagons at the roadside and are set down upon the school grounds. There 
is no tramping through the snow and mud, and attendance is much in- 
creased and far more regular. With the children under the control of 
responsible drivers there is no opportunity for vicious conversation or 
the terrorizing of the little ones by some bully as they trudge homeward 
through the snow and mud from the district school. 

"During the school year 1898-99 there were enrolled in the grades 
below the high school eighty-two boys and fifty-two girls; in the high 



—31— 

school room seventeen boys and thirty-five girls; making a total in the 
building of 186 pupils. * * * 

"Keep in mind that this school is not in a village and the children are 
scattered over twenty-five square miles of territory. The children are 
not tardy. * * * Any one who stands in that building, looks at those 
children and wagons, must be convinced that here is the solution of the 
country school problem. Because this problem is being solved in the 
country over six miles from the railroad. There is an organ in every 
room, and the walls are decorated with pictures. They have started a 
library. In the high school room were fifty-two enrolled, with fifty 
present. Here was an opportunity for the big boys on every farm to get 
higher education and still be at home evenings, secure from the tempta- 
tions and dissipations of city life. They rode home in the wagons with 
the children of the lower grades and thus were able to be of service on 
the farm. 

"The building is a frame structure, erected at a cost of $3,000. It is 
heated by steam. The principal gets $80 per month. * * * The 
drivers receive respectively $22, $30, $18, $25, $30, $32, $16, $30, and 
$17 per month, making an average of $1.25 per day. Before the adop- 
tion of the centralization the average daily attendance was 125 pupils. 
It has increased to 144 at the end of the second year, and the principal 
told us the attendance is increasing all the time. Before the schools 
were centralized the cost for the entire township was $2,900. Now it 
is only $3,156, being an increase of only $256 annually. And as to the 
character of the school, who will claim that the nine scattered schools 
were doing the work of a well graded four room school ? There is abso- 
lutely no comparison. In order to keep up the school and pay off the 
school bonds, the Township Board of Education made a levy of nine 
mills on a valuation of $373,000. There was opposition to the plan at 
first. * * * Those who were opposed to centralization of schools 
frankly acknowledge their mistake, and are found among the staunch 
supporters. We have found this true at every place we have visited. 

"A special committee was sent from an adjoining county to investigate 
the Gustavus school. The committee was composed of one person 
opposed to the system and one in favor. They traveled over the town- 
ship and talked to the people as we did. In their report, out of fifty- 
four families interviewed only one person with children was opposed ; 
seven of those in favor were formerly strongly opposed, while none that 
were first in favor of the system are now opposed. The same committee 
adds: 'Although the system costs a little more (the belief is that it is 
cheaper after building is paid for), yet the people, as a whole, are highly 
pleased and are very enthusiastic and proud of their schools. Several of 
the neighboring townships, after carefully watching the system, have 
decided to centralize, and the growing opinion is that centralization is 
in harmony with educational progress.' 

"The committee's report is certainly correct. Bear in mind, the roads 
in this township are but a trifle, if any better than the average of Winne- 
bago county. In fact, two or three townships of our county have, as 
a whole, better roads. The people are simply determined to have better 
schools and will not allow obstacles to remain in the way of their chil- 
dren's fullest and freeest development, even if it does cost a few hundred 



—32— 

dollars more per year for the entire township. * * * The average tax 
payer would not know it. The testimony has been that after the new 
school building has been paid for that there is an actual saving per capita 
of children of school age in the township. Then think of the superior 
value of the new school over the old. It can not be a question of a few 
hundred dollars. 

"While we were at the Gustavus school the principal advised us to 
drive five miles to the west into Green township, where the people had 
centralized and put up a fine new brick building at a cost of over $6,000. 
The people of Green township had watched the school in Gustavus town- 
ship for two years, and believed so thoroughly in the new plan that at 
the last April election they voted to centralize and bond the township for 
a long term to erect a new building. The vote was overwhelmingly in 
favor of the new school. 




Central School, Green Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. 
(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 



"This building stands in the center of the township in a community 
distinctly country. There is no village beyond a store and post office, a 
town hall, a church or two, and a few dwellings. It is eleven miles from 
one railroad and six miles from another. It was built in 1900 at a cost 
of $6,000. There are six school rooms with two additional, one of which 
may serve as a library, and the other as an office and reception room. 
There is a basement under the entire building, part of whk?h may be 
utilized for laboratory and gymnasium. The building is heated by 
steam. 

"To this building are brought all the children of the entire township. 
The superiority of the educational influence of such a building over 
that of eight or nine widely scattered, neglected district buildings is 
beyond controversy, to say nothing in the way of sanitary improvement, 
in the way of seating, lighting, heating, and ventilation. Such a build- 
ing may be had in hundreds of townships of Illinois. It would not be 



—33— 

a burden to any of the taxpayers of any township of Winnebago county. 
Bonds could be issued for thirty years' time, money could be borrowed 
at 4 per cent. The annual interest on $6,000 at 4 per cent, would be 
$240, an amount no larger than the repairs of seven or eight district 
school houses from year to year if kept up as they should be. One- 
thirtieth of the principal, or $200 plus the annual interest, $240, would 
make a total cost of $440 for building purposes for the first year, decreas- 
ing every year afterwards as bonds were paid off. * * * 

"They began this school in September last. The enrollment is 180, 
over 150 of last year .in the scattered schools. Four teachers are em- 
ployed. All children of the township are brought to the school, and 
eight wagons are employed in the transportation. The campus has 
about three acres. Shade trees, school decoration, library, etc., will 
come. How that school can be made the social, literary and musical 
center of the entire township ! What an inspiration it must be to a corps 
of teachers to work in such a community as that. 

"In the primary room were all the little ones of the entire township 
in a beautiful room, while in the high school room were many large 
farmer boys getting an education they could not otherwise gain." 

TRANSPORTATION CONTRACTS. 

An idea of the method employed in letting contracts for transporta- 
tion of pupils can be gotten from the following forms which are em- 
ployed in Madison township, Lake county, Ohio,f and La G-ange county, 
Indiana. 

NOTICE TO BIDDERS. 

Bids for the transportation of pupils of the Madison township schools, 
over the following routes, will be received at the office of the Township 
Clerk until Friday, July 24, at 12 m. : 

Boute A. Beginning at county line on North Kidge road, and 
running west on said road to school house in District No. 12. 

Route B. Beginning at Perry Line on the North Bidge road, and 
running east on said road to school hou.se in District No. 12. 

Route C. Beginning on Middle Ridge road, at residence of N. 
Badger, running thence west on said road to the residence of Rev. J. 
Sandford, thence north to school house in District No. 12. 

Route D. Beginning at Perry Line on River road, and running 
thence east on said road to school house in District No. 6. 

Route E. Beginning at the Tlartman farm, thence by Bennett road 
to Chapel road, thence east to A. R. Monroe's, thence west on Chapel 
road to school house in District No. 13. 

Route F. Beginning at residence of J. H. Clark, and running east 
on Chapel road to school house in District No. 13. 

All whose bids are accepted will be required to sign a contract by 
which they agree: 

1. To furnish a suitable vehicle with sufficient seating capacity, to 

+Copied here from the Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, pages 491-2. 



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convey all the pupils properly belonging to their route, and acceptable 
to the Committee on Transportation. 

2. To furnish all necessary robes, blankets, etc., to keep the children 
comfortable; and in severe weather the conveyance must be properly 
heated by oil stoves or soap stones. 

3. To provide a good and reliable team of horses, and a driver who is 
trustworthy, and who shall have control of all the pupils while under his 
charge, and shall be responsible for their conduct. Said driver and team 
to be acceptable to the Committee on Transportation. 

4. To deliver the pupils at their respective schools not earlier than 
8:30 a. m., nor later than 8:50 a. m., and to leave at 4:05 p. m. (sun 
time). 

Each contractor shall give bond for the faithful discharge of his con- 
tract in the sum of $100, with sureties approved by the president and 
clerk of the board. 

The committee reserves the right to reject any and all bids. 

By order of the committee, 

C. G. Ensign, Clerk. 

SCHOOL CONVEYANCE CONTEACT. 

Township, Lagrange county, Indiana. 

This article of agreement made and entered in to this day of 

190 . . , by and between , of Lagrange 

county, in the State of Indiana, and School Township, in 

the said county and State. 

Witnesseth, That the said party of the first part, 

doth hereby agree to and with the said School Town- 
ship, party of the second part, as follows, towit: 

That the said will convey by spring hack all chil- 
dren herein stated 

and such other children of school age whose parents may later reside on 
the route or in the district. 

The transportation route shall be as follows: 



The said party of the first part further agrees to arrive at 

between. . . .a. m. and. . . .a. m., standard (sun) time and to leave said 
school house promptly at the close of each day's session and convey the 
foregoing pupils to their respective homes as expeditiously as 
possible in the same general manner as in the morning. He shall 
strictly prohibit profane or obscene language and boisterous con- 
duct in or about the hack. The said party of the first part further agrees 
not to use tobacco while in charge of the children, neither will he permit 
its use by any pupils while in his custody. The pupils shall be con- 
veyed with due regard to their comfort, and the team shall not only be 
safe but reasonably speedy. 

(Additional considerations.) 



—35— 

The services of the said party of the first part shall commence on the 

day of 190. . , and continue throughout the school 

year for such days as the school shall be in session. 

The said party of the first part (or second) shall provide a comfort- 
able and safe conveyance, and said vehicle shall be so constructed that 
it can be entirely closed during inclement weather. 

(Additional considerations.) 

The said party of the second part in consideration of the prompt ful- 
fillment on the part of the party of the first part contracts and agrees 
to pay dollars per day for services rendered as above stated. 

In case party of the first part fails, neglects or refuses to faithfully 
do and perform each and every one of the covenants and agreements 
herein specified on his part to be performed, then this contract shall be 
null and void at the option of the party of the second part, and the party 
of the second part may immediately bring suit on the bond annexed here- 
to for any damages sustained to the party of the second part by reason 
of the failure of the party of the first part to perform his covenants and 
agreements herein contained. 

In Witness Whereof, the above named parties have signed the above 

contract this day of 190 . . 

Party of first part, 

Party of the second part, 

By Trustee. 

Know all men by these presents, That we, 

and are held and bound to the State of Indiana, in 

the sum of dollars, for the payment of which we do 

bind ourselves jointly and severally. The condition of this obligation 
is such that we do hereby guarantee the full performance of all condi- 
tions specified in said contract on the part of said 

to be kept. 

Now if the said shall faithfully fulfill all the 

requirements mentioned, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to be 
and remain in full force. 

Witness our hands and seals this day of 190 . . 

(Seal.) 

(Seal.) 

State Superintendent Frank L. Jones of Indiana says, concerning the 
matter of transportation contracts: "I am not in favor of letting con- 
tracts for conveying pupils. It is not a matter which can be lumped off 
to the lowest bidder. It would be as sensible to employ teachers upon 
this basis. The law does not contemplate that the contracts for trans- 
portation should be made in this way. It is entirely proper for a trus- 
tee or advisory board or both to fix the amount that will be paid and then 
select the best man for the work at that price." 

FLORIDA. 

In Florida consolidation has been established in seventeen out of 



—36— 

forty-four counties, and many more are favorable to it. The following' 
.by Supt. Glenn of Jacksonville is the best account* found : 

"Wisconsin and Mississippi and North Carolina write to Florida seek- 
ing our experience and method of transportation in Duval county, in con- 
nection with our centralization of rural schools during the last six years. 

"In this county six years ago there were forty-five rural schools of 
one teacher each, for white children, established by former administra- 
tions. The work of these schools was so unsatisfactory in general, and 
the per capita of expense ran so high in many of them, that the present 
■administration determined to reduce the number to fifteen of three 
(teachers each. 

"A statutory clause of the State provides that school children must 
not be required to walk to school more than one mile and a half. Hence, 
in choosing the sites for the centralized schools, the one having the 
greatest number of children within a radius of one mile and a half has 
generally been chosen. Seven of these schools are now in operation, each 
accommodating the children of about sixty to one hundred square miles 
oi territory. Others will be established as rapidly as funds will permit. 

"The concentration of the children who live more than one mile and 
.-a half from these new schools is accomplished by means of wagonettes, 
.-specially designed for the purpose, and provided by the Board of Public 
Instruction at the public expense. They are of such capacity as to carry 
•-eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen and twenty pupils, respec- 
tively, and cost from seventy to one hundred dollars each. Last year 
twenty-seven of these comfortable vehicles were running at an average 
■cost of $23.33^. These twenty-seven vehicles enabled us to close twenty- 
ifour of the old one teacher schools, the current cost of which had 
previously been forty-five dollars and fifty cents per month for each. 
'. Hence our transportation system now in operation produces a current 
tsaving of four hundred and sixty-two dollars per month over the old 
method. This gross saving was reduced by two hundred and twenty-five 
dollars, the increase in salaries for assistant teachers at the centralized 
schools, and there was still left a net saving of two hundred and thirty- 
seven dollars per month. During a single term of eight months this net 
saving amounts almost to the entire cost of the twenty-seven wagons, 
and since the life of a well made wagon is about five years, four-fifths of 
this saving can be devoted to the extension of the new system and to 
better facilities for teaching. Therefore, even in a financial way, cen- 
tralization is Duval county, Florida, is a decided success. 

"Professionally there seems to be nothing objectionable, and of the 
many advantages the following are the more important : 

"1. The teachers' work is so well organized that the average recita- 
tion period is doubled. 

"2. The effort of the teacher is made more effective by means of 
adequate equipment, 

"3. Truancy is wholly eliminated. The health of the pupils is pre- 
served against bad weather and worse roads, but especially from the im- 
pure drinking water of former days. 

"4. Many children, formerly so isolated as never to have access to 

*Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science. Sept., 1903, pages 14-16. 



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any school, are now accommodated, to the advantage of the system' finan- 
cially. 

"5. Local prejudice and family feuds are so completely submerged 
that one or two large families can not freeze out the teacher. 

"6. As a sequence to all these favorable conditions the average attend- 
ance is increased 12£ per cent, giving a corresponding increase of school 
funds from the State. 

"7. The country maiden may, and does, continue her education even 
onto the appreciative days of womanhood, without fear of molestation by 
the ubiquitous tramp or vagabond. 

"8. The youth prolongs his school days to the ambitious verging into 
manhood, because his aspirations for intellectual progress have been en- 
couraged — he has been given time and opportunity to think and to talk. 

"9. The farmer and his family are becoming more content wth their 
independent, self-sustaining occupation, preferring to have their children 
educated in the efficient rural schools, where, during the character-form- 
ing period of youth, ethical culture is free from the dissipations of social 
life as manifested in our cities. 

"10. The development of the art of teaching by young aspirants is 
more feasible to the superintendent. His efforts at supervision are more 
frequent and more effective." 

Ellis Geiger, superintendent of Clay county, says : "In the past two 
years the number of schools in the county has been decreased from fifty- 
one to forty-one. This has been done by merging five schools into one 
in one case, three into one in two instances, and two into one in two cases. 
In order to do this it has been necessary to transport some of the most 
distant pupils. The entire current expense per month of the larger 
schools thus created, including transportation and increased salaries, is 
about one hundred dollars less than that of the little schools which 
existed before. By this consolidation the attendance has been consider- 
ably increased and more efficient teaching has been made practicable. 
This educational movement is coming into favor with the people. (Bi- 
ennial Beport of Superintendent of Public Instruction for Florida, 1902, 
p. 253.) 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the year 1893 Seymour Bockwell, the veteran school committee 
man of Montague, Mass., said: "For eighteen years we have had the 
best attendance from the transported children ; no more sickness among 
them, and no more accidents. The children like the plan exceedingly. 
We have saved the town* at least six hundred dollars a year."t 

In Massachusetts, in response to a circular of inquiry, "60 per cent of 
the town report the cost as less, but the results better; 15 per cent cost 
the same but the results better ; 8 per cent cost more but results better ; 
8 per cent cost more but results not stated ; 8 per cent cost less but re- 
sults not stated. "J 

*A "town" in Massachusetts corresponds to a township in other states. 

^Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 458. 

tG. T. Fletcher in Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 462. 



—3 a— 

AUSTEALIA. 

In Victoria, Australia, under the system of conveyance, 241 schools 
have been closed. The saving in closed schools amounts to about $71,000 
per annum. The attendance is so regular and the system so popular 
that applications are constantly made for its extension." | 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Fuller information concerning consolidation of schools may be found 
by consulting the following : 

The Western Journal of Education June, 1903. (723 Market Street, 
San Francisco, Cal. Price, 15 cents.) This is a Special Number 
devoted to Consolidation of Schools, and gives an exceptionally good 
collection of reports and articles on this subject. 

Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, for 1902, 
Vol. II, pp. 2353-2369. This article contains a brief list of the best 
State reports on consolidation, together with selected quotations and 
other information. 

Proceedings and Addresses of the National Educational Association, 
for 1903, pp. 919-935. The first of the two articles in this volume con- 
tains a very full bibliography of the subject. 

\\Wc8tcrn Journal of Educution, June, 1903, page 436. Quoted from Report of Minister of 
Public Instruction for Victoria, Australia. 



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